Centrifugal gas cleaner



Nov. 17, 1953 R. c. BAIRD CENTRIFUGAL GAS CLEANER Filed Aug. 18, 1950 RAYMOND C. BA/eo,

INVENTOR.

JQTTOE/VEY.

Patented Nov. 17, 1953 CENTRIFUGAL GAS CLEANER Raymond (J. Baird, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to The Fluor Corporation, Ltd., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application August 18, 1950, Serial N 0. 180,218

1 Claim.

This invention has to do generally with improved apparatus for separating liquid entrainment from gas streams, such for example as wet natural gas, and is directed particularly to various novel features rendering the invention capable of low cost manufacture and field installation in wide capacity ranges, as well as efficient moisture removal.

Generally contemplated is a separator assembly employing a pair of gas inlet and outlet headers interconnected by individual relatively small diameter pipes in such number and arrangement as may be required to accommodate, for purposes of efiicient moisture removal and within permissible pressure drop ranges, the rate of gas flow through the headers.

Segregation of the liquid out of the divided gas streams flowing through the several interconnecting pipes, is accomplished by providing within each pipe a helical or spiral vane series acting to require the gas to follow a spiral path of flow at angular or swirl velocities sufiiciently high to effectively throw the entrainment out against the wall of the tube. For reasons that will later appear, it is preferred to direct the gas entering each pipe to a helical course of flow at progressively increasing circular, i. e. angular, velocity and to a tained to a location near the liquid draw-off discharge into the outlet header.

The invention further contemplates removal from the several pipes of liquid separately from the outlet gas, and by way of a system of drains so connected as to enable the total liquid to be run off in a single drain line or header.

All the objects and illustrating one embodiview taken on maximum that may be mainof relatively large diameter and extending in spaced parallel relation. The headers 50 and II are interconnected by separator units :2, the number of which is determined in accordance with the total gas throughput from header to header. Merely as illustrative, the assembly of Fig. 1 is shown to comprise four tubular separator units I2 interconnecting the headers.

Each unit I2 is shown to comprise a pipe I3 elevated above and connected respectively with the inlet and outlet headers I9 and II by way of pipes I4 and I5. Above header I I), the inlet end of each pipe I3 is closed by a cover I6 which Each pipe I3 contains a series of spiral bafiies or vanes preferably arranged in spaced sections I'I, I8 and I9 which may be mounted about a the gas from the vane section I! in flowing to the next intermediate vane section I3.

outlet header I I. By eliminating inertia effects otherwise to be encountered by the use of minimum lead bends in the sections l7 and I9, the described progressively changing leads have the efiect o1 materially reducing the pressure drop taken by the gas in flowing through the vane series.

Flowing through the pipe I2, the gas is subjected to a swirling or angular velocity sufiicientcentrifugal segregation of liquid coming isolated from contact with and possible entrainment by the leaving gas. From space 22, the liquid drains through outlet 24 into a header 25 leading to the sump 26. As illustrated in Fig. 1 the header 25 serves as a common liquid drain line for all the units 12.

Fig. 3 illustrates a variational form of the invention in accordance with which the individual separating units are accommodated in longitudi nal alinement with the inlet and outlet gas headers. Here a shell 21 containing a tube sheet 28 is received between and in alinement with a. large diameter wet gas pipe or header 3!] and the dry gas outlet header 3|. Expanded into or otherwise secured within sheet, 2 8 are a plurality of separator units 32 corresponding to, the previ-v ously described units l2. That is to say, each unit 32 comprises a pipe 33 containing vane sections 34, 35 and 33 corresponding respectively to vanes I1, 18 and 19 in Fig. 2. The forward ends of the pipes 33' may be suitably supported for removal from shell 27, as by a spider or strap arrangement 29. Liquid drainage from the space between the outlet end portion of each pipe 33 and the inside baflie tube 31, corresponding to tube 22 in Fig. 2, occurs through an opening 98 into a drain channel 39 applied to the underside of the pipe and having a discharge spout 40 spaced reversely to the directing of the gas flow from the forward closed end 391 of the channel. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the separated liquid flows from all the units into chamber 4fl within the shell 21, for removal through the bottom drain 42 located at the upstream side of the annular dam ring 43.

I claim:

Gas cleaning apparatus comprising a gas inlet header and a gas outlet header, said headers being arranged in spaced parallel relation, a plurality of pipes extending between and interconnecting the headers for divided parallel flow of the gas from one to the other thereof, said pipes being positioned above one of the headers and having ends through which the insides of the pipes are accessible, removable closures for said ends of the pipes, baffle means within each of said pipes directing the gas in a swirling course of flow therein to centrifugally segregate entrainment out of the gas, and means for withdrawing the segregated entrainment from the pipes.

RAYMOND C. BAIRD.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

